1. Field of the Invention
The present subject matter relates to a method and system incorporating front-end and back-end functions which facilitate the interaction of third-party apps with a synchronized messaging system communicating with multiple clients for providing an enhanced concert experience.
2. Background
One form of a live event is a concert in a venue. The venue may accommodate on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of audience members. The prior art has taken initial steps in providing an enhanced concert experience. Initially, concerts were accompanied by light shows and the like. New, limited forms of interaction are provided which include communication from a central concert transmitter to portable user devices such as smartphones in an audience.
An important part of maintaining the continuing popularity and economic viability of an operating system or an operating environment is providing the ability for interaction with third-party applications, or apps. One such system communicates with multiple portable devices in a concert audience. Prior systems would not have been conducive to the use of apps providing a shared experience to audience members in a venue. Providing a shared experience requires that audience members receive communications in a synchronized manner. Had the prior art contemplated the provision of shared experiences, implementation would have been difficult since portable user devices are inherently subject to clock variations. Additionally, latency varies between devices on different cell phone carrier networks and even within the same cell phone carrier network. The internal time of day clock value can differ between adjacent devices by as much as several minutes. Additionally, the clock drift experienced by an individual device can be noticeable over timeframes as short as tens-of-minutes. This inherent difficulty does not affect the limited interactions previously provided. Typical mobile device transmissions have included email, Facebook data, or web-browsing. Such transmissions are not subject to ineffectiveness due to non-synchronization between various user devices.
Since an app writer working apart from the system could not account for time differences between devices, there can be no assurance that signals will be received at multiple user devices substantially concurrently to provide an experience that is in fact shared. Apps essentially could not be provided which could perform a function in which the portable interactive devices need to react “simultaneously,” i.e., within a time window of preselected width.
In past systems, messages have not been constructed in a form within a framework to remove impediments to synchronization. For example, prior systems, to the extent that they have provided synchronization, have had features which do not lend themselves to allowing a new portable interactive device to join a network by performing a minimal number of operations.
Interaction of a sort has been provided between a concert server and portable interactive devices held by audience members. U.S. Pat. No. 8,090,878 discloses a more complicated method and system for synchronizing many clients to one central server. In this arrangement, the central server must download client software to each electronic device to be synchronized. The client software allows the electronic device to perform data synchronization with the server. After the synchronization is complete, the client software may be removed from the electronic device. Downloading the client software to each client device is a cumbersome process. After the client software is removed from each electronic device, synchronization is no longer provided.
United States Published Patent Application Number 20100074278 discloses a network element which synchronizes a number of clocks within a system and supports multiple independent timing domains. The network element must act as a master clock to which other clocks are slaved. The network cannot account for initial time differences among the clocks.
These systems do not provide for interaction beyond sending or receiving information.
United States Published Patent Application Number 20100129065 discloses a content request, storage, and configuration system provided for attendees of live events or performances which associates pieces of content with one or more keywords, and configures the content for the benefit of a user. Content owners load content into the system or link content elsewhere to the system, and optionally designate a set of actions to be taken. This system is directed toward the gathering of information by the content owner rather than to providing shared content to users.